1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector configured to hold a signal transmission medium inserted in a connector main body portion with a lock portion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, various electrical devices or the like adopt an electrical connector that connects a signal transmission medium, such as a flexible flat cable (FFC) or a flexible printed circuit board (FPC), electrically to a circuit board. This electrical connector is mounted such that a connector main body portion rises from a surface of the circuit board, for example, via a board connecting leg portion (holddown) joined to the circuit board, and configured to achieve electrical connection by inward insertion of a signal transmission medium through an insertion opening portion provided in the connector main body portion of the electrical connector.
In a terminal portion in an insertion side of the signal transmission medium inserted into such an electrical connector, a positioning portion composed of a recess, for example, in a notch shape is formed, and a locking member provided in the electrical connector is engaged with the positioning portion provided in the signal transmission medium so that an inserted state of the signal transmission medium is held.
However, a conventional electrical connector of this type described in JP-A-2001-196130 (the term “JP-A” as used herein means an “unexamined published Japanese patent application”) does not use a slider for obtaining contact pressure between a contact group held in the connector and respective lands of an FPC, but has a locking lever pivotally attached to prevent the FPC from dropping off even with a small contact load. In this case, since a locking portion provided in the connector main body portion is a separately-formed member, there is a tendency for the connector to become expensive as a whole due to increase in the number of parts. Further, since the locking portion is configured to engage the signal transmission medium by its own weight, there is the problem that a holding force to the signal transmission medium cannot sufficiently be obtained. Furthermore, another conventional connector described in JP-A-2003-100370 can prevent positional deviation or the like of the FPC since elastically-supporting pieces that support the FPC by elastically pressing are provided on reinforcing brackets attached to both ends of a housing of the connector and soldered on a circuit board. However, since a direction in which the elastically-supporting piece applies a pressing force and a soldered portion of the reinforcing bracket are in a relationship of positional deviation, there is such a possibility that according to a repetitive unlocking operation of a locking portion, an unlocking-operation force continuously applied to a connector main body portion affects a mounted state or the like of the connector main body portion, which results in lack of stability in electrical connection.